Classic Mini enthusiasts have threatened to boycott Top Gear after a similar Cooper was wreaked in the programme’s recent Christmas Special.

The BBC’s cult motoring programme Top Gear is currently facing the wrath of classic Mini owners after a 2000-registered Mini Cooper was abused and left for dead in India after being ‘defaced’ during a stunt in the show’s Christmas special. In the show, presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond followed Top Gear’s now well worn formula of taking a selection of interesting classic cars somewhere extreme, this time India, and totally abusing them.

The team’s mission was a spoof ‘trade delegation’ to India promoting traditional UK-manufactured products such as lawnmowers, trouser presses and Marmite to local dignitaries. To reinforce the stunt’s British theme the team selected a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, Jaguar XJS and the aforementioned Mini Cooper as their transport. At the start of the stunt all the cars all looked to be in reasonable condition, but as the programme progressed the modifications the team made to their vehicles became dafter by the minute.

Sadly, the red Mini was spotted by one of its former owners who was devastated to see her former pride and joy wrecked after being pounded into the ground by Richard Hammond on unpaved roads in what looked like the Himalayan foothills. The scene that really enraged classic Mini fans though was when Hammond attached the wire from a 4x4 winch haphazardly slapped onto the front of his Mini, now affectingly known worldwide as Wilf, to James May’s Roller when it couldn’t climb a steep unpaved hill and stupidly ripped the Mini’s face off..

Mini fans are now threatening to boycott Top Gear and have even organised a Facebook campaign to bring the Mini back to the UK, although it was incorrectly reported on the site that Mini had been purchased by Richard Hammond, restored and added to his car collection. A BBC spokesperson confirmed to Classic Car Buyer that all the cars featured in the Indian stunt have now been returned to the UK and will eventually be displayed with other cars from the show in the World of Top Gear at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu.